Rainstorm leaves 15 dead in Brazil

Sao Paulo, March 12 (IANS/EFE) A rainstorm that lashed this Brazilian metropolis and its suburbs left at least 15 dead, a dozen injured and several cities flooded, authorities announced on Friday.

Four people died in the town of Mairipora including a little boy, while another seven were injured in a mudslide on Thursday night on a hill where several houses were being built.

Authorities told local media that eight people have gone missing in Mairipora, a municipality of some 80,000 inhabitants.

In Francisco de Morato, another city in the Sao Paulo metropolitan region, nine more people died in a mudslide.

Another two people were drowned in the town of Guarulhos.

Firefighters worked through the early hours at different points around Sao Paulo, many of which were flooded due to the heavy rains that caused canals and rivers to overflow.

Sao Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport was closed for six hours by the storm, though operations have started up again, and since the trains had stopped running, dozens of passengers were left stranded at railroad stations.

Authorities advised people living in high-risk areas to evacuate their homes because more rain and the possibility of mudslides are forecast for the coming days.

A score of cities in the Sao Paulo metropolitan region have been affected by the storm.